Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1887-06-18
ST. STEPHEN.
sgA DIR. 7ALmAee,s DISCOURSE
NAT THE TABERNACLE.

Five Divine I;aphaols Exhibited in Ills
nrnrtyr,lum-Gazins into lIeavcn-Look-
Ing, ut Christ-Stoned--HIs Dying Prayer.
; Asleep.
EnooKl.Y:;, juno 12.-ThS morning ut tho
tabernacle tho Rev. T. Dc Witt TalmaGe, D,
d. cxpoundcd appropriate passages of script
urc, after which tho congregation sang tho
favoric hymn: "rhcrc is rest for the weary"
The reverend doctors text was Acts VII, 3-OO:
"Bchold, $40 tho heavens opcnctl, aud tho Son
OF Man standing on the right lnand OF God
Then they cried out with Il loud voice ana
stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one
accord, ,tnl Gust him out of the city, ana
stoned him; and the witnesses laid down Their
Clothes Il IL young nnln'S fcetwliose h;ii'ie was
Saul. And Lhcy stoned Stephen, calling, upon
God, aud saying, Loi,l Jesus, receive my
spirit. And he lll,cclcd down. and cried with
q loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their
Charge And when hc had said THIS, he Toll
aSocp.n The preacher sail:
Stephen hail been proachinS lousing scr
mon, and tho pcople could rot st;ind It.
They resolved IT, do us lucn sometimes would
like to do i'll this day, if they dared, with
some plain preacher of rightcousneSs-kiii
him. Tho only way TO silence this IMAM was
to knock the breath out of him. so they
rushed Stephen out of tho gates Of tho city,
ani with curse, and whoop, and hlow they
brought hirn to tho cliff, as was the custom
when they wanted TO take away lilo by ston-
ing. Having brought him TO tue edge OF the
cliff they pushed him off. After no had fal.-
eli they camo and looked down. and seeing
= that he was not yet dcusl, they began to drop
stoucs upon him, stono after .tonc Stone after
s:one Amid this horrible rain of missiles,
Stephen chambers up OH his knees and folds
his hands, while tho blood drips from his
tclnpcs to his checks. from ms chccks to his
garments, from his garments to the ground;
and then, looking up, hc makes two prayers,
ono for himself and ono for his naurylcrcrs.
Lord JESUS, receive my spirit:h that was for
himself. Lord, lay not this sin 10 their
charge that vas for his aSsailants. Then,
FROM pain and loss of blood, he swooncd
away AMI fell asleep.
wt,it to show you 10 day Eve pictures
Stephen gazing into heaven, Stephen looking
at Christ, Stephen stoned, Stephen III his dy-
ing prayer, Stephen asleep.
First, look ut Stephen gazing into heaven.
Before You take q leap you want to know
where you are going to land Before You
climb Il ladder you want to know TO what
point the ladder reaches. And it waS right
that Stephen. within Il few moments OF
heaven, should be gazing into it. W. would
ali do we'll to be found i'll the same posture.
There is enough i'll heaven to keep us gazing.
y man of large wealth may have Statuury i'll
the hail. and paintings in tic sitting room,
and works Of art i'll all lN.rts of tho house;
but lie has the chief pictures i'll the art gal
lery, au,l there, hour after hour, You walk
with catalogue and glass and ever increasing
admiration. Well, heavoli is the gallery
where God has gathered the chief treasures
OF his realm. The whole universe is his
palace In this lower room wlicru we stop
there are many adornmcntS--tesscllatcd floor
OF amethyst and blossom, and OIL the winding
cloud stairs are stretched out canvas on which
conminSlc azure, and purple, and saffron, and
gold. But heaven is the gallery III which the
cliicf glorics are gathered. There arc tho
brightest robes. There arc tlicr ichcstc crowns
There are the highest cxhilaratious. John
says of it, "Tho kings Of tue earth shall
bring their honor and glory into it."
And sec the procession forming; and in
the limo como all empires, and tho stars spring
up into an arch for tho hosts to march under
They keep step to the sound of earthquake
mid the pitch of avalanche from the ,uoun-
t,nS, and tho flag they bear is the tamo OF q
consuming world, and all heaven turns out
with harps aud trumpets and myriad voiced
reclamation Of angelic dominion TO welcolut,
them in, and SO the kings of the earth bring
their honor and glory into it. Do you won
der that good people often stand like Stephen,
looking into licaveus We have u grc;tmany
friends there. There is not q maj, in this
house to-day so isolated in life but there is
some one III ts7e =el wit. whom he once shook
hands. as man gets oldclsSss luin atsss[.' ol
lis celestial acquaintances Very rapidly
nultiplies We have not had ono glimpse of
them since tho night we kissed them goodby
and they went away; but still We stand
gazing at heaven. AS when solno of our
friends 20 across the sea we stand OF the
dock or on the steaEtug md watch them,
and after awhile the hulk Of the vessel dis
appears, and then there is only Il patch of
sail on the sky, and soon she is gone, and they
are all out of sight, and yet VIC stand looking
i'll tho same direction; so when our friends so
away from us into tue future world we keep
looking down through the Narrows, and gaz-
inc and gazing. as though we expected that
they would como out and stand on some
evening cloud, and give US ono glimpse Of
their bssful and TRANSPORTED faces. While
You long to join their companionShip and.
The years an'l the days so with silch tcdiun
that they break your heart, and the viper Of
pain and sorrow and bereavement keeps
gsawing at your yituls, you still stand, like
Stephen, gazing into heaven. You wonder if
they have changed since yen saw them last
You wonder if they would recognize your
face now, so changed has it been with trouble
You wonder if, amid tho myriad delights
they have, they care as much for you rs they
used to when they gave you u helping hind
and nut their shoulder. under Your burdens
You wonder ii they look any older; and
sometimes, in tho cvcningtidc, wien the
house is all quiet, you wonder il you SHOULD
call them by their first name il They Tould
not answer, and perhaps sometimes You do
make the experiment., and when no ono but
Cod and yourself are th,.re you distinctly
call their names, and listen and wait, and sit
gazing into heaven.
Pass OH now and see Stephen looking upon
Christ My text says he saw the Son of inau
at the right hand of God just how Christ
looked in this world, just how lie looks i'll
heaven, we cannot say. 4 writer in the time
OF Christ says, describing the Saviour's per
sona appearance, that lie had blue eyes and
light complexion, and very graceful struc-
turc; but ! suppose it was all guess work
The painters of the different ages have tried
to imagine the features of Christ, and put
them upon canvas; but we will li;vc t:' wait
until with our OWL eyes we see him and with
our own cars we can hear him. And yet
there is way of seeing and hearing him
,ow. have to tell you that unless you see
and riesr Christ on earth, you will never see
aud hcarSllim in heaven. Look! Ihorc he
is. Behold tic Lamb Of God. Can you not
see him? ThcM pray to God to take the
scales off your eyes. Look that way-try to
looI, that way His voice comes down to
You this lay-comes down to the blindcst, to
lie l,.afest soul. saving: "Look unto ne, all